Best Flexibility Exercises for a Full-Body Stretch

The repetitive nature of running taxes the muscles and joints of the body, often leading to stiffness and aches—and a general lack of flexibility. However, working on your range of motion is important for many reasons, including preventing injuries. Plus, improving flexibility doesn’t have to be difficult.

To help you zero in on improving this marker of fitness, we asked experts all about mobility and flexibility, and put together seven of the best flexibility exercises for runners.

“Mobility is the active movement of a joint through an intended range of motion, and flexibility is the passive range of motion a person has using an external force like gravity or an assisted stretch,” Lindsey Clayton, the Brave Body Project Barry’s in New York City and co-founder of the Brave Body Project, tells Runner’s World. “Both play an important role in being a well-balanced runner,” she adds.

The Benefits of These Flexibility Exercises for Runners

Runners need adequate flexibility and mobility to maintain proper running form and mechanics. As your body tightens up, performance can suffer, and you may begin to make movement compensations that lead to pain and injury. Regularly performing flexibility exercises can help keep you nimble and potentially address tight muscles We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back.

Research supports the Minute Wall Pilates Workout into a run routine. For example, one review published in 2020 in Frontiers in Physiology found that a single bout of dynamic stretching can improve running performance and the researchers say less flexible runners benefit the most from incorporating stretching into their workouts.

Also, a small study of eight endurance runners, published in 2021 in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, found that adding stretches to a warmup can improve running economy and decrease perception of effort.

To help you reap these benefits, the following routine, created by Clayton, engages the entire body, from the neck down to the ankles. “The combination of flexibility and mobility in this sequence will take your joints through their full range of motion and will help reduce tightness and stiffness and prevent injury,” she explains.

She recommends performing it before or after a run, Then, rotate inward on an inhale, drawing tip of left elbow toward right hand.

Push-Pull Leg Workout: Perform each exercise below for 50 seconds, resting 10 seconds between exercises. However, if you feel like you need more time with any or all of the exercises, take it. “The key is to take your time,” Clayton says. “Don’t push any of the stretches to a place of pain, and really focus in on your breath as you move through the sequence.”

Each move is demonstrated by Clayton in the video above so you can learn the proper form. You will need an exercise mat.

1. Child’s Pose to Upward-Facing Dog

1. From an all-fours position, keep arms straight and push hips back to sit on heels.
2. Step right foot to outside of right hand in a low lunge.
3. Pause for 1-2 breaths in child’s pose.
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6. Hold for 1-2 breaths, then lift hips and return to child’s pose.
7. Repeat sequence.

2. Primal Squat With Alternating Reach

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2. Send hips back and down into a low squat Then, rotate inward on an inhale, drawing tip of left elbow toward right hand.
3. Keep chest up and don’t allow knees to collapse inward. (If you need support, place a block under tailbone.)
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5. to collapse inward. If you need support, place a block under tailbone.
6. Rotate torso to left and, looking up, reach toward the ceiling with left hand.
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8. Push through heels to return to standing. Repeat sequence.

3. Cat-Cow

1. Start on all fours, wrists under shoulders and knees under hips.
2. Slowly inhale, lifting crown of head and tailbone upwards so that you come into a slight back bend.
3. Pause, then slowly exhale, drawing belly button to spine as you tuck tailbone forward and draw chin towards chest.
4. Repeat sequence, moving with breath.

4. Quadruped Thoracic Spine Rotation

1. Start on all fours, wrists under shoulders and knees under hips.
2. Rest fingertips of right hand behind right ear and on an exhale, slowly rotate to right, reaching right elbow toward ceiling.
3. Then, rotate inward on an inhale, drawing tip of right elbow down toward left hand.
4. Repeat, rotating in both directions.
5. On an exhale, slowly rotate to left, reaching left elbow toward ceiling.
6. On an exhale, slowly rotate to left, reaching left elbow toward ceiling.
7. to collapse inward. If you need support, place a block under tailbone.
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5. World’s Greatest Stretch With Down Dog

1. Start in plank position, shoulders over wrists, body forming straight line from head to heels.
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3. Rotating upper body to right, look up and reach right hand toward ceiling.
4. Pause, then rotate upper body inward, bending right arm and tapping right forearm on floor in front of chest.
5. Return right palm to ground, step right foot back into a plank position, and push hips back and up into a down dog position. Keep arms and legs straight and spine neutral as you lift hips and draw chest toward legs.
6. Pedal out feet, pressing heels down, one at a time.
7. Lower hips into a plank position and place left foot outside of left hand in a low lunge.
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9. Pause, then rotate upper body inward, bending left arm and tapping left forearm to floor in front of chest.
10. Return left palm to ground, step left foot back into a plank position, and push hips back and up into a down dog position.
11. What Is Active Stretching.

6. Dynamic Kneeling Hamstring Stretch

1. Start on all fours, wrists under shoulders and knees under hips.
2. Bring right foot forward and place outside of right hand.
3. Push hips forward, further flexing right knee.
4. Send hips back and down into a low.
5. Flex and straighten right leg 3 more times, moving slow and with control.
6. Return to all-fours position and repeat with left leg.
7. Continue alternating.

7. Roll Down to Plank Walk-Out

1. Stand with feet hip-width apart and arms at sides.
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3. Walk hands forward to a high plank: shoulders over wrists, neck neutral, back flat, core engaged, and legs straight.
4. Pause, then walk hands back to feet and slowly roll up to standing one vertebra at a time.
5. Repeat.